Aafrin Kidwai 
West Bengal stares at a Covid-19 biomedical waste crisis as the six treatment and disposal facilities have almost reached their threshold capacity following a surge in COVID-19 cases across the state. The two agencies that run the Common Bio-medical Waste Treatment and Disposal Facilities (CBWTF) have drawn the attention of the West Bengal government, which is in talks with the authorities to figure out how to tackle the impending crisis before the toxic waste starts spilling over.
The Hindustan Times spoke to Ramakant Burman, managing director (MD), Greentech Environ Management Private Ltd, the sole agency, which is authorised to collect biomedical waste from households in Kolkata and its satellite townships. Mr Burman informed that while earlier, the major waste used to come from hospitals, it is now healthcare workers, whose discarded PPE kits are the source of the maximum waste in the city.
Picture Credit: CDC/ Alissa Eckert, MS; Dan Higgins, MAM, SARS-CoV-2 without background, marked as public domain, more details on Wikimedia Commons
